THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502020142
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Marlene Ford
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
If the arts is the sandbox for the rich, as some have said, then kick off your sandals, grab your shovels and pails. All of us here in Virginia Beach are just rolling in it - money, that is.
We must be. Last year 209,886 of our local citizenry attended one or another of the city's 394-plus local art events.
Since Gov. George Allen is calling for a 50 percent reduction in state funding for these happenings, and it seems to be acceptable to think of the arts as a pretty exclusive endeavor, wouldn't it be a real tragedy to find out after-the-fact that even a few measly thousand of us were having so much fun we didn't even know we were ``hoity-toity'' art lovers?
Enjoy those free Tidewater Winds band concerts along the oceanfront for the last 10 summers? Art event.
How about that recent knee-slapping Crystal Gayle/Virginia Symphony Pops program that had people packed into the Pavilion? Another art event.
Then there's the annual four-day Boardwalk Art Show for an ``elite'' gathering of an additional 350,000. The Virginia Beach Symphony provides the annual 1,000-voice community Messiah Sing-Along. Young Audiences of Virginia's music, theater and dance programs were offered to 31,500 kids in Virginia Beach elementary schools last year. That's art event, art event and - art event.
There are, indeed, those high quality, ``highbrow'' classical concerts, chamber music recitals and ballets on the local stages, too. But it's the great diversity of arts that are a part of our lives in Virginia Beach.
All of these programs noted, or the organizations that present them, are partially funded directly by the jeopardized Virginia Commission for the Arts or indirectly through the local arts funding agency, the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission.
The Boardwalk Art Show is itself self-supporting. However, according to Virginia Beach Center for the Arts executive director Helen Snow, no Center for the Arts would mean no Boardwalk Art Show. That four-day gala is the largest outdoor art show on the East Coast and brings in sales of objets d'art alone a very cool million dollars.
But while the Boardwalk show is the most glitzy, outrageous fun/art event of the season, all the local arts - the smaller low-budget organizations, the groups that bring the arts to kids only, the all-volunteer community ensembles - are a part of the sand that fills the box.
Last year Darlene Kelly, and Music in Motion, gave their 12th annual dance concert in the Pavilion Theater for about a thousand people. A grant from the city arts commission helped them commission new music, new choreography, hire live musicians, rent the hall, bring in guest artists and everything else that goes into a dance concert.
Don't misunderstand. Kelly wouldn't exclude the rich from among her patrons. Plenty of seats are available for everyone, but she laughed at the idea of an elite audience in tuxes and furs. ``Sure, we do get a group of people who love and know dance and will always come to our performances. But when I look into the audiences I see seniors, I see kids, I see families - and most of these probably aren't the same people who see the Bolshoi when they're in town. They come because they'll like something of what we do - if not the ballet piece then the jazz number or the hip-hop.''
The Little Theatre of Virginia Beach, the Virginia Beach Chorale, the Virginia Beach Ballet and the Virginia Beach Symphony are among the oldest and most valued of the city's community art groups. They each receive a financial boost from the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission.
Tom Felton from the Little Theatre said politicians really don't know how much families participate in the arts. For the summer musical ``Cinderella'' there were oodles of kids; for the one-woman show ``Shirley Valentine,'' lots of middle-aged women were out front scrutinizing the comedy/drama.
Keep in mind those groups not only perform for, but are comprised of local citizens. Felton said, ``It may not be the way we earn our money, but it's the way we live our lives.''
So that's art, art, art and art.
Those still aren't the only organizations in town. Commonwealth Musical Stage, the only professional theater in the entire state dedicated to presenting that unique American art form, the Broadway musical, is based and operating right here in town. Tidewater Performing Arts Society brings in guest artists in a mix that includes jazz or classical, dance or music and more. Very Special Arts Virginia organizes creative events for local student and adults with disabilities. The Tidewater Classical Guitar Society brings artists from around the world to present a wonderful season of just guitar music.
When hundreds of 11-year-old ballerinas tromp across toes to get into their seats for the ODU Ballet and Virginia Symphony's ``Nutcracker,'' that's another art event, too.
And there's more for young people. Virginia Opera singers are on the road with performances like the smarmy ``Virginia Opera 23510'' and for the younger ones, ``Little Red Riding Hood.'' The Hurrah Players, Theatre IV, Children's Theatre and the Bay Youth Symphony Orchestra of Virginia are part of the mix.
For the coming season the Oceanfront won't be silent. Stages and galleries won't be dark. But since the arts are so labor intensive and consequently the professional organizations so expensive to maintain without a delicate balance of government and private monies, there will come a time when the arts that survive will really only be affordable to the rich.
But instead of spending the 48 cents per capita in Virginia Beach taxes and the 33 cents for state taxes that now go to the arts, each person in town could forget the great times they've been having and buy just about 16 pounds of sand to fill their own sandboxes. MEMO: Marlene Ford has written about the community and professional arts in
Virginia Beach for more than a dozen years. In addition, she is a
musician with the Virginia Symphony and teaches in the Humanities
Division at Tidewater Community College.
ILLUSTRATION: YOUR OPINION
All opinions about state funding of the arts can be phoned to the
General Assembly in Richmond by calling 1-800-889-0229.
Last year the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission,
which receives funding from the state arts commission, awarded 23
nonprofit organizations a total of $195,250 for projects and
performances in Virginia Beach. Through ticket sales and
contributions from businesses, individuals and foundations, those
groups leveraged that amount into $1,272,101.00 in income.
For information about the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities
Commission, call 431-3733.
by CNB